


and we're together as it ends

by FyreLily



Category: RWBY
Genre: Blood and Injury, Found Family, Gen, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Torture, Light Angst, acceptance of death, idk why I wrote this but I did it at 1 am, just descriptions of what Oscar's been through, uhh predictions for later today ig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29400897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FyreLily/pseuds/FyreLily
Summary: There isn't enough time to make it out of the whale.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Oscar Pine & Lie Ren & Yang Xiao Long, Minor Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long - Relationship, Minor Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie - Relationship
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	and we're together as it ends

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by something that @wlwrwby (on twitter) wrote!! go check her out they're very cool
> 
> I just felt like writing something small before c9 comes out... it literally comes out in an hour lol I HOPE OSCAR GETS SAVED
> 
> EDIT: UM UM UM SO UPDATE??? AFTER THE EPISODE DROPPED????? OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD WTF???? SOMEONE COME SCREAM WITH ME

The world was on fire. 

The world was smoldering, blazing, burning to the ground. 

And there was nothing they could do to stop it. 

Everything dark, tinted with red. Red like rubies, red like berries, red like blood. 

It probably was blood. 

And here they were, as the world was set aflame, running through the halls of a giant Grimm whale. A monstrosity, something that should not exist. A terrifying beast, that sheltered an even more fearsome and formidable creature. 

The Queen of Darkness. 

Yang’s bright yellow hair flashes gold, Jaune’s blue eyes filling with determination and desperation, Ren’s heartbeat increasing rapidly. 

They’re running out of time. 

“Please,” a small voice croaks. 

Ren resists the urge to look down, to face the source of it. He fails, and as he runs for his life, Ren finds himself staring into Oscar’s hazel eyes. 

The boy is injured, beaten close to unconsciousness, and looking like he belongs on death’s doorstep. 

The truly horrifying part is that Ren doesn’t even know if that’s an exaggeration or not. 

“Please,” Oscar begs. “You need to leave me here. You need to go.”   
  


Yang looks over her shoulder as she sprints down the corridor. “Not gonna happen.”

Ren hugs Oscar tighter against his chest, wishing that he could protect him from all the horrors of this world. He can’t. 

“You aren’t going to make it,” the farm boy insists. “You’ll have a better chance of making it out alive if you leave me behind.”

Ren tears his eyes away from Oscar’s own, focusing on the path ahead. “We came all this way to save you. We’re not giving up now.”

Oscar shifts in Ren’s embrace. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Ren flinches. Those words are awfully familiar. He locks eyes with Jaune. He can see the blond boy’s hands shaking as he grips his sword. 

He recognizes the words, just as Ren had.

It’s been such a long time, and yet it feels like it was only yesterday. All of them, separated, as screams fill the air and clouds fill the sky. Chaos spreads, and the entire world is flipped upside down, descending into madness. No one knows where their loved ones are. No one knows if those that they care about are alive. 

Pyrrha never made it out. 

“I’m sorry.”

She had a habit of saying that. She had apologized a lot.

Oscar is far too similar for comfort. 

This can’t happen again. This can’t be the same. 

“I can’t let you guys die because of me. You need to go, now.”

“And what about you?” Jaune fires back. 

Oscar’s breath seems to hitch. “Oz will reincarnate.”

So which straw is it, that breaks the camel’s back?

Which raindrop is it, that causes the dam to finally break?

Ren stops short. 

“This isn’t about him!”

Oscar looks up at Ren, dazed. “What?”

Ren holds him tight, shielding him, embracing him, as close as he can without hurting him further.

“We don’t care about Oz. Oz would reincarnate, but you wouldn’t. We’d lose you.”

Jaune steps in. “When we lost Pyrrha… it was like the world had ended. It kind of had, in a way. We can’t do that again. We can’t lose another teammate, another friend.”

“Another family member,” Yang whispers.

Ren sees their petals, a faint pink. Love. He smiles tiredly.

“You aren’t replaceable, Oscar.”

Jaune nods, and out of the corner of his eye, Ren can see the proud petals stirring around Yang’s tall form. 

“No one is.”

Oscar blinks, and… perhaps it’s just a trick of the light (although there is not much of that in this awful place), but Ren spots a tear or two glistening in the child’s eyes. 

“Okay.”

Oscar leans into Ren’s shoulder, lets out a soft sigh, and goes limp. 

Ren’s heart stops for a second. He waits.

There’s a beat. 

Unconscious. 

Not dead. 

He’s asleep. 

Oscar’s been wounded, hurt beyond anything that a child of his age should have to feel. Of course he’s exhausted. 

Ren nods to Yang and Jaune. 

They continue. 

_ Tick, tock.  _

_ Tick, tock. _

They’re running out of time. 

\---

They can’t do this. They can’t make it out. It’s not possible. 

The bomb goes off in four minutes. 

_ Tick, tock.  _

_ Tick, tock. _

Ren collapses to the ground besides Yang and Jaune, managing to lay Oscar gently against the floor before he lets himself rest. 

Jaune catches his eye. There’s a silent message, a soundless meaning to be conveyed. 

They’re out of time. 

All of this, for nothing. 

All of Emerald’s help to find Oscar, wasted. 

All of Neo’s careful stealth to get them away from Salem, useless.

All of Winter’s warnings, reminders, utterly pointless.

Everything. 

Everything they’ve done.

It’s all for nothing. 

“We did the best we could,” Yang sighs. She wipes her eyes. “It’s going to be okay. The rest of them are still fighting. Maybe Emerald and Neo got out.”   
  


Jaune nods slightly. “It wasn’t in vain.”

Ren stares at Oscar. “I hope not.”

There’s silence, and the soft glow of Jaune amplifying Oscar’s aura. Perhaps he hopes that maybe, just maybe, he can give him enough to make it out. If one of them gets to survive, they all know it must be Oscar. 

“I should’ve told her. I shouldn’t have been so awful to her when I last saw her.”

Ren can feel Yang and Jaune’s eyes eating into him. He doesn’t know where the statement came from. It just felt like something he needed to say. 

_ Tick, tock. _

_ Tick, tock. _

“That’s not how she’s going to remember you,” Jaune comforts him. “She loves you. She knows how you feel.”   
  
Yang leans back against the wall. “At least you guys knew how you felt about each other.”   
  
“ _ I  _ know how you feel about her,” Ren says. “And if I know, then I promise you that she does too.”

“Yeah?” Yang asks. “Think that… maybe she feels the same way?”

Ren almost snorts. “Yeah.”

Yang’s eyes close, her face painted with a small smile. 

“That’s nice to know.”

Jaune smiles at them. “Yeah.”

There’s more silence. 

_ Tick, tock. _

_ Tick, tock. _

The shimmering glow of Jaune’s aura. 

_ Tick, tock. _

_ Tick, tock. _

Jaune stretches out his arms. “I’m glad that I’m with you guys, you know?”

Yang nods, her eyes still closed. Tears begin to pool around her lashes, turning them dark and heavy. “Me too.”   
  
“As am I,” Ren agrees. He can feel the moisture stirring in his own eyes. 

This is.. This is really it. 

It’s over. 

He closes his eyes.

_ Tick, tock. _

_ Tick, tock. _

There’s one minute left.

Salty water tracks it’s way down his cheeks. He doesn’t have to open his eyes to know that Yang and Jaune match him. 

A small pressure against his wrist. A small hand, weakly grabbing onto him.

Ren blinks his eyelids open, glancing down at Oscar.    
  
The boy shoots him a half grin. He still shines with the light of aura. 

Oscar holds onto his hand. 

_ Tick, tock.  _

_ Tick, tock.  _

“I love you guys.”

Yang lets out a wet laugh. 

“Us too, pal.”

Jaune nods, his body relaxing.    
  


Ren inhales, and exhales. 

_ Tick, tock. _

_ Tick, tock. _

The air grows warm. 

That ticking… 

What is it?

The sound speeds up, getting louder and louder, faster and faster until-

“I don’t want to lose anyone either.”   
  
There’s a flash of green light. 

There’s a distant boom, the sound of a bomb exploding. 

And everything is black. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> ending is open to interpretation bc... I honestly don't know what I was doing. 
> 
> after that episode I am never going to FUCKING GET OVER IT bc he was... AAAAAA NO SPOILERS BUT WE WERE SO WRONG????? anyway pspsps come scream about it in the comments with me (or on Twitter or my curiouscat) but if you do please tag spoilers so people who are looking know!
> 
> thanks for reading! feedback is always appreciated, and feel free to tell me if I have typos, or tags I should add. [you can find me on twitter](https://twitter.com/sapphicscarlett), and here's my [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/sapphicscarlett). have a lovely day!!


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